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Women's college basketball: James Madison upset Gonzaga in NCAA tournament

Associated Press

Posted:
03/23/2014 08:41:26 PM PDT

Updated:
03/23/2014 10:42:28 PM PDT

Kirby Burkholder had 28 points and 18 rebounds to lead No. 11 seed James Madison to a 72-63 win over sixth-seeded Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA tournament Sunday in College Station, Texas. It was the Dukes' first tournament win since 1991.

Burkholder, the Colonial Athletic Association player of the year, had been up most of the night ill with an upset stomach.

Burkholder said she felt better after filling up with fluids all day Sunday.

"I just tried to put that aside and just play through it," she said. "I was tired, but I was just trying to just play hard."

A 3-pointer by Shaniqua Nilles put Gonzaga (29-5) up by four points before James Madison (29-5) used a 12-0 run to take a 59-51 lead with 3½ minutes left. Burkholder had six points and two steals in that stretch.

Gonzaga didn't score for almost five minutes as James Madison took the lead.

"I don't even really know what happened," Gonzaga's Sunny Greinacher said of the stretch. "They were so strong in that period of time. They really got us on our heels."

Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said: "We got the shots we wanted. We just didn't make them."

Stewart was among five Huskies (35-0) who scored in double figures on coach Geno Auriemma's 60th birthday, giving him his 92nd NCAA tournament win.

Penn State 62, Wichita State 56: Maggie Lucas scored 22 points, rallying the Lady Lions (23-7) back from an 11-point hole and avoiding an unwanted piece of tournament history: A No. 3 seed has never lost a game to a 14. The Shockers (26-7) never could sustain the early spurt that would have allowed them to pull off one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

Oregon State 55, Middle Tennessee State 36: Sydney Wiese made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points, and the ninth-seeded Beavers (24-10) ousted the eighth-seeded Blue Raiders (29-5).

Wiese put on a shooting display midway through the second half, hitting five 3s in a six-minute span when the Beavers blew open the game. Wiese made 7 of 15 shots, had five rebounds and four assists.

"I'm pretty speechless about it. It's an indescribable feeling," Wiese said. "We've been working hard all year. It was our goal to make the NCAA tournament. We weren't sure if we were going to get some wins, but it's nice to get the first one."

South Carolina 73, Cal State Northridge 58: Tiffany Mitchell scored 24 points, and the top-seeded Gamecocks (28-4) took awhile to pull away from the No. 16 seed Matadors. Janae Sharpe led Cal State Northridge (18-15) with 26 points but was held in check for most of the second half.

North Carolina 60, UT Martin 58: Xylina McDaniel scored the go-ahead basket off an offensive rebound with 56 seconds remaining to help the fourth-seeded and host Tar Heels (25-9) overcome an 18-point second-half deficit to edge the 13th-seeded Skyhawks (24-8).

After the game, fans were forced to stay inside Carmichael Arena after police announced there was an armed and dangerous person near the campus.